The Hat in Time Rewrite
by An Preson Peepul
Summary: It's a rewrite for A Hat in Time. Not much else to expect. But hopefully it'll be one heck of a fun ride. (Discontinued)
1. New Adventure

Okay, now before you get the pitchforks and torches out; hold your horses, let me explain myself.

I don't hate A Hat in Time. I actually really love it, but as much as I might like its charming characters or cute moments, what bothers me about the game is its lackluster plot. I know that the developers probably put more focus on the gameplay than a plot, (since, you know, this is a game, so the gameplay comes first) and I'd say they succeeded in that area well enough, and while most of the chapters all have really solid plots that work well separately, it doesn't have a cohesive overarching plot that works as well, so I came up with this to scratch that particular itch.

Anyway, I don't own Hat in Time. Read at your own risk.

Side-note: For those of you who've seen this story before, I really didn't like the first chapter because it kind of felt like I was ticking off a checklist instead of writing a story. Most of the stuff I put in there could have probably been put in more gradually instead of dumped out at the very beginning. So I got rid of it. Now on with the show!

* * *

"Pfft. Can you believe them? What a bunch of losers."

The first thing Hat Kid heard the moment she beamed down from her ship was a really loud and annoying ruckus. Being the curious girl she was, she decided to follow the noise, and lo and behold, she found the mustached girl from before captured by the "Mafia".

Never one to ignore a cry for help, she jumped in to lend a helping hand, and with her newly acquired umbrella, she sent them blasting off into the sky. Though it seemed her little scuffle had attracted a bit of attention to herself, and now the mustached girl (who Hat Kid dubbed as Mustache Girl. It wasn't the most creative name, but what else was she supposed to call her?) was talking to her.

"Hey," Mustache Girl said, elbowing Hat Kid, "you're alright, new kid. Do you have a name?"

Hat Kid blinked innocently and stayed silent. Who gives their name to a complete stranger? Back home, no one gave their name to any weird aliens asking about their business, so why should she?

When Hat Kid didn't respond, Mustache Girl just continued to talk. "No? You shy? That's cool. You're a 'less talk, more fighting' kind of girl, I take it. My little resistance could use someone like you. Though it isn't much of a resistance right now because I'm the only one in it."

She suddenly brightened. "Say, would you like to join my little rebel squad?"

Oh no. She was not going to get involved in any sort of alien resistance. She had to keep searching for her timepieces, and she was in a rush to get it done. Besides, she wasn't supposed to talk to anyone from other planets.

"No? That's a shame." Mustache Girl gave her a disappointed look.

Hat Kid was just about to make her exit when Mustache Girl stopped her. "That thing you grabbed there," she said, pointing to the timepiece. "Are you collecting them? Because I know where there's more of them."

Hat Kid nodded eagerly, but Mustache Girl held up a hand to stop her.

"I don't do things for free, you know. If you want me to help you, I'm going to have to ask you for a few favors, first. You scratch my back, I scratch yours; that kind of junk. You with me buddy?"

Well, that was mean. Hat Kid was in a hurry to get back home, and this little girl was in her way. To be fair, though, she did look like she needed help, and Hat Kid was a good kid who never turned down a call for aid.

She supposed that a few errands couldn't hurt, right? It wasn't like she had to talk. Helping people was fun, and any timepieces she found on the way could be a nice bonus. So she agreed to help Mustache Girl with her little resistance.

"I promise it'll be loads of fun!" Mustache Girl said cheerfully. "And hey, two heads are better than one for messing up the Mafia!"

Then she dashed away, leaving Hat Kid very confused. Mustache Girl was halfway down the street, when she stopped and turned back to Hat Kid.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" she asked. "Are you coming or not, buddy?" She gave Hat Kid a mischievous smile, holding out a hand to her. Hat Kid didn't miss a beat and spirited after her.

She may have been stuck on a strange planet, but at least she had a friend to stick with from now on.

* * *

The main purpose of this rewrite is to fix the parts of A Hat in Time that I didn't really like. As a result, I will be skimming over most of Chapter 1, because I really have no problems with that chapter plot-wise up to the end of the Mafia Boss chapter. Don't expect much for the first few chapters.

Also, the name of the chapter is the name of one of the tracks from the Hat in Time OST that plays when you first start your adventure, titled "New Adventure"


	2. She Came From Outer Space

The three people who read this story before and actually remember what happened there might recall that I said I wasn't going to do many chapters from Mafia Town. More specifically, I said I wasn't going to do a chapter for She Came From Outer Space. Well, I've had a change of heart. This chapter was supposed to be the Mafia Boss one, but I decided that I probably should do a better job at establishing Hat Kid and Mustache Girl's dynamic before I have them part ways and become enemies, so I used this chapter to do it.

So anyway, I don't own A Hat in Time. If you have any thoughts/suggestions/constructive criticism/hate mail (disregard that last one please) on your mind, feel free to add that to a review. Read at your own risk.

* * *

It was night when Hat Kid beamed down from the ship. When she looked down at the sleeping town around her, the faint lights that leaked out of windows scattered about gave her a warm cozy feeling. She stepped out of the shade, and suddenly found her clothes drenched in rain. (How she hadn't noticed the downpour, she didn't really bother guessing)

Almost as fast as she had come down, Hat Kid beamed herself back up before her clothes could take any more of this terrible attack. She returned a few seconds later with a bright yellow and purple raincoat and a pair of oversized boots. This time, when she stepped out into the rain, it bounced harmlessly off her clothes and tumbled to the ground.

Now she was perfectly safe from the water, in her own little protective rubber bubble. She was free to splash in the rain and jump in puddles as much as she wanted. Sadly, today had other things planned for her.

Mustache Girl had sent her on a mission to spook the Mafia; more specifically, she told her to go after the Mafia goon with the weird swirly-eyed-goggles-thing. Her job was to keep him distracted long enough for Mustache Girl to sneak into his base and mess up any number of science-y gizmos he might've had lying around, and in return, she said she'd nab the timepiece he was keeping on her way out.

Didn't mean Hat Kid could have fun while doing her end of the bargain.

Mustache Girl had told her to keep the Mafia goon out in the town by... eight? (She took a moment to step out of the rain to check the piece of paper Mustache Girl had given her. Yep, definitely eight) So she had a bit of time to waste.

She spent the first few minutes wandering around town, searching for the swirly-goggled Mafia goon. She played in the puddles, ran through the raindrops, stared at the shops, and strolled through the streets.

There was a bird sleeping under an umbrella, nestled on the ground to stay out of the rain. Big mistake. When Hat Kid passed by, she ruffled the bird's feathers, and it woke up with a startled squawk. The next minute or so was spent trying to get away from the bird, which wasn't too happy about being woken up and having a wet hand being smooshed down on the top of its head.

After she was sure she had lost the angry bird (in no small part from running around for two minutes straight), she made sure to avoid company, just so she wouldn't be tempted to start another chase through Mafia Town. Thankfully, the streets were empty, probably because most of the goons would be asleep since it was past bedtime. Hat Kid would usually be tucked away in bed by now, snuggled in with her many pillows and dolls, but Mustache Girl needed her help for this super-sneaky mission (as she had put it), and who was Hat Kid to deny her some help, especially if it meant bringing another timepiece back into the safety of her hands.

So she wandered around for a bit longer. She quietly crept under a family of raccoons dozing in a tree high above her head, and she wove through the red brick streets, careful not to make a sound. She skipped by the peaceful shore as waves splashed onto the sand, and followed the streams slowly running out into the ocean as she scaled the tall, dark rocks leading away from the beach. When she passed by the big yellow machine from before, she stopped to take a good, long look at it.

Of course, it was just as quiet as it usually was during the day; the Mafia didn't really have much reason to use it, now that they had finished setting up the big metal sticks into a nice (though weirdly big) jungle gym. (That thing was a jungle gym, right?)

Hat Kid had no luck finding the swirly-goggles Mafia goon on the ground, so she decided to try taking her search higher. Silently, she scampered from rooftop to rooftop, bouncing lightly over the blue tiles. Then she saw the shape of a man standing high above the town, on the edge of a tower, looking through what could have been a telescope, and she decided to take a closer look.

She slipped under the cool and airy blanket of darkness. Pairs of stairs zoomed under her feet as she zipped up the stairs. At the top, she spotted a mud puddle and managed to pull herself over just before she could fall in. She was fine with getting we, but she did was to keep her clothes squeaky clean.

A torch flickered beside him. From the dim light, Hat Kid could see a pair of green swirly goggles on his head. She checked the small clock in her coat, which read eight o'clock. Everything was sticking to the schedule.

Quietly, Hat Kid tiptoed up behind the Mafia goon, taking extra care to not be heard. When she was right behind him, she pulled a weird face, starting making a bunch of loud and scary noises, all while flailing her arms to catch his attention.

Nothing.

Well, that certainly was disappointing. She probably didn't have to distract him, since he was doing such a good job distracting himself anyway.

With a disappointed sigh, she began to head back toward the stairs. Looks like she didn't have anything to do now. Then, just as she was about to reach the top, she tripped.

And fell face-first into the mud with a ginormous splash.

There was mud everywhere; on her face, behind her raincoat, getting in her hair. Oh, now she was going to have to go back and get clean clothes all over again.

She really didn't like dirty clothes and dirty hair. Dirt in her hair was just about as fun as sand in her hair, which wasn't really fun at all. It was gross and icky and served no other purpose than to make her look dumb.

Then she looked up and saw the swirly-goggles Mafia goon had noticed her. Seeing her covered in mud, he screamed something about "slimy space alien" and ran away, arms flailing.

Maybe mud wasn't so icky after all. (Well, it was still pretty icky. But Hat Kid could keep this icky on her clothes if it kept the Mafia goon running away from her)

So Hat Kid chased him around town, waving her short arms, babbling and making alien noises, leaving a trail of mud behind her. Up and down the red brick streets they went, running over stairs and climbing up ladders. They caused such a ruckus that they woke up the entire town. Of course, when the Mafia goons looked out their windows to see what the fuss was all about and saw a tiny icky blob running around, they wisely remained indoors.

Eventually, Hat Kid noticed that the Mafia goon had begun to slow down. A few seconds later, her frantic running slowed to a slower run, before it slowed again into a walk. Finally, the Mafia goon collapsed on the ground, completely worn out. When she approached the Mafia goon, he pulled a time piece out of his coat, to her surprise.

"If Mafia give you this, will you go away?" he said.

She'd be an idiot not to take it. And Hat Kid was many things, but she was definitely not an idiot.

* * *

When Hat Kid returned to her ship, she found Mustache Girl already there, soaking wet and shivering. Mustache Girl barely opened her mouth before Hat Kid grabbed her arm and dragged her into her bedroom, where she buried her in a pile of pillows.

Mustache Girl poked her head out of the sea of cushions and sputtered, "What's this all about?" She snapped shut when she caught sight of Hat Kid shaking a small metal can, and she quickly became curious as to what it was.

Hat Kid turned up a dial on the top of the metal container and poured something into a mug she held in her other hand. As soon as the cup began to fill, a light trail of steam began to rise up into the air, and the room was filled with a rich, sweet smell. Hat Kid turned to Mustache Girl and offered her the mug, but she shrunk back from it.

"For me?" she said, giving the cup a nervous look.

Hat Kid nodded, and she took the steaming mug with trembling hands.

"But why?" she asked.

Hat Kid just gave her a pat on the head. She turned back around to pour herself a mug, before she snuggled into the pillow pile beside Mustache Girl.

Mustache Girl wouldn't look her in the eyes. Something was up. Hat Kid gave her a soft, reassuring pat on the back, hoping to get her to spill the beans.

With a sigh, she finally began to talk. "Well, the plan went smoothly. I managed to pull a few things from his... 'lab', in no small part thanks to your distraction."

Hat Kid giggled from her place in the pillow pile next to Mustache Girl.

"No really," she said, turning to Hat Kid. "I'm really thankful for your help... but..." She stopped, and it was Hat Kid's turn to turn to her.

"I couldn't find the hourglass thing," she finally said. "Now I don't have anything I can repay you with, and I'm really sorry!"

Hat Kid gave her a sympathetic frown. She gave her another pat on the back and pulled out the timepiece she was keeping in a pocket. When Mustache Girl saw it, her face lit up with surprise.

"How did you get that?" she asked.

Hat Kid gave her a wink, before she tucked it back into her coat. Mustache Girl smiled back, and for the longest time, the two were content to just sit in silence.

Then Mustache Girl spoke again.

"You know, while I was there, I saw another thing about the hourglass thingies you like so much. Apparently, the Mafia have a bunch stashed up in their HQ."


	3. So, What's The Plan

So I was going to have this chapter be about Heating Up Mafia Town, but in the end, I just decided to only have it mentioned.

Anyway, here is where we get into the more rewrite heavy stuff. The first big change I have here is that Cooking Cat has a more prominent role. I liked Cooking Cat, and was a tiny bit disappointed when I found out she was just a minor character. The thing is, the game seems to think otherwise, with Cooking Cat appearing at the end cutscene; it's one of those things I thought was cute, but made little sense.

Then again, I could just be overthinking everything and letting my personal biases get in the way. Either way, one of the things I aim to do with this rewrite is to give Hat Kid a set group of friends, and I'm going to kick that off with Cooking Cat here.

(The title is another reference to a track from the Hat in Time OST)

* * *

Hat Kid was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. The only good thing that had happened so far was that she had one more time piece that before; everything else was bad.

Turns out that Mustache Girl wasn't all that she was cooked up to be. Well, it's not that she had been pretending to be someone else the whole time, it was just that Hat Kid thought that Mustache Girl was someone she could trust. With Mustache Girl leaving to collect the timepieces for her own selfish reasons, Hat Kid couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. After Hat Kid had gone back to get the timepiece and snuck out of the base, she found Mafia Town flooded with lava. Apparently, there were some faucet things around town that controlled the volcano on Mafia Island, and as Mustache Girl was making her mistake, she decided to be mean and turn on all the faucets to fill the island with lava.

Of course, it would be mean if Hat Kid left Mafia Town submerged in lava, so she had to go around and turn all of them off. It was a very annoying task to complete, not to mention painful whenever her clothes were licked by the lava. Now that she was done, she was able to finally get back to her ship and get a change of clean, non-burned clothes.

There was a knock on the door. Hat Kid scampered over to answer it, and when she opened the door a cat with one of those poofy white chef hats stepped inside. The first thing she did was ask the cat what she could help her with.

"Please, call me Cooking Cat," the cat replied.

That name seemed to jog something in Hat Kid's memory, and she remembered that this was the same cat she had met back at the Mafia HQ. She asked Cooking Cat what she was doing out here.

Cooking Cat clicked her tongue. "The thing is," she said, "when you kicked the Mafia Boss off of his high horse, all of the Mafia got thrown into a big confusing mess and I thought I'd try to find someplace else to hang around while I wait for the whole mumbo-jumbo back home gets sorted out."

Oh right. Leaving everything untouched was one of the things she was supposed to keep in mind. Oh well, it was too late to go back. (Well, she could use her timepieces to undo it, but she didn't think the people above her would be very happy about it)

"Besides, I thought it might be interesting to try cooking on an alien spaceship," Cooking Cat added. "So can I stay for a bit?"

Hat Kid couldn't say no. Not just because she didn't want to leave to poor cat out in the wild, but also that she liked the idea of having a chef on board, so long as she didn't mess with her mostly sugary diet.

"I can't thank you enough for this," Cooking Cat said. "Now would you mind showing me where the kitchen is?"

With a skip in her step, Hat Kid led her companion to the kitchen on the upper floor. As soon as she watched Cooking Cat slip behind the blue doors, she hopped back down to the console at the front of the ship to think about where she could go next.

There had only been six time pieces in Mafia Town, and Hat Kid knew for a fact that there were more. But where to search next? Mafia Town was the first place she had searched, but only because it was where she had landed. Now, she had no clue where to go next.

As she tried thinking very hard, Cooking Cat poked her head out the kitchen door, and called out, "I forgot to ask are you more of a meat person or a vegetable person?"

To be fair, Hat Kid preferred neither, mainly because she didn't like anything that hadn't spent a fair time in the oven, and anything that didn't have sugar. So she replied meat, an answer she had picked out completely at random.

"Well, I just hope you don't eat people," Cooking Cat said jokingly. It was then that she noticed Hat Kid hunched over her computer, and came over to join her.

"What are you doin', anyway?" she asked, taking a peek over Hat Kid's shoulder.

Hat Kid replied that she was trying to find more time pieces, but didn't know where to start.

"Time pieces? Like those hourglass things you seem so fond of?"

"I think I heard something about an hourglass thing over at Dead Bird Studio. You might want to look into that."

Dead Bird Studio? Hat Kid asked what was that, and how could she get there.

"Dead Bird Studio is a place where they make fun little spectacles for the big screen," Cooking Cat explained. "Movies is what people call 'em. And if you want to get there from Mafia Town, there's a train that stops by a beach rather close by headed straight for Dead Bird Studio."


	4. Dead Bird Studio

I know I'm late. I just can't seem to keep a schedule.

Anyway, this isn't going to be the only chapter for Dead Bird Studio, so be prepared for more.

* * *

The ride to Dead Bird Studio was boring and dull. As Hat Kid boarded the train, she saw some Mafia goons loading fireworks and bombs onto the train. Lots and lots of fireworks and bombs. Maybe a little too much.

Were movie directors always this ex...temperes? Exaction? (What was the word?)

Did movie directors have to overdo everything?

Anyway, she watched them bring the explosives on board for a few minutes before she got bored and decided to get on the train.

After the train took off, all she saw was sand. Miles and miles of sand; certainly a big difference from the ocean that had been all she could see when she was on Mafia Island, or on the boat she had taken off the island.

Now that sea of water had been replaced by an equally as boring sea of sand, but since she really had nothing else to do, having left her yarn back on her ship, she just stared out the window. She looked out onto the sand for so long, she could have sworn she saw a boat sailing over the sand. Of course, that was impossible; boats belonged on the water, not in the desert.

"Enjoying the view?"

Oh right. Cooking Cat was here too.

When she found out Hat Kid was leaving, she wanted to come along too. Apparently, Cooking Cat interested in the things she did. Hat Kid wasn't sure why, since retrieving time pieces was a fairly boring thing. Well, to her, anyway.

Hat Kid shook her head in response to Cooking Cat's earlier question. No, she was not enjoying the view; in fact, the view was rather boring.

"Well," Cooking Cat said, "I ain't used to seeing this much sand back in Mafia Town."

Hat Kid replied that even new things can become boring after having nothing else to look at for a really long time.

Cooking Cat thought about this for a minute. "You're probably right," she finally said. "You've got quite the smarts for a little kid."

Hat Kid burst into a smile. Compliments were always nice to get.

"Dead Bird Studio, coming up!" a voice called over the speakers.

Slowly, Cooking Cat began to get out of her seat. "Well, I guess we'd better get ready to go," she said.

Hat Kid nodded in agreement.

When the train came to a stop, Hat Kid and Cooking Cat got off the train. They were able to slip into the studio with an incident. The moment they got inside, Hat Kid strolled up to the secretary and demanded to see his boss.

"I'm afraid I can't do that right now," he clucked with a shrug. "I can let you know when I can, though."

Hat Kid was in a hurry, so the thought of having to wait didn't really seem good to her. Cooking Cat talked her out of it, however. They ended up waiting a few minutes in the lobby. Cooking Cat looked around at the various awards on display, while Hat Kid fiddled around with a sunglasses-dispenser, until, finally, the two directors of the studio revealed themselves.

A penguin called DJ Grooves, and an owl(?) called the Conductor. Those were the pair who ran the studio. From the moment they stepped through the doors, they made it very clear that they didn't like each other very much. There was a lot of shouting and name-calling.

Then they both pulled out their time pieces, and things got a bit complicated. Hat Kid wanted to march right up to them and take the time pieces, but Cooking Cat reminded her that 1: violence was never a good answer, and B: if she made them mad, she would get kicked out and probably miss any other time pieces they might have lying around.

So, as much Hat Kid hated waiting, she managed to sit still long enough for the directors to leave. Once they were gone, she went right back to the secretary and asked to see the directors again.

"They're recording right now, so I can't let you inside," he replied, eyes glued to the computer screen to his left. "We're only insured for bird staff. Letting you in would be a liability." There was a short silence before he added, "Don't even think about sneaking inside."

This really left no other choice for Hat Kid other than sneaking inside. Cooking Cat was fine with staying in the lobby, so Hat Kid had to convince her to help her get inside. After a small debate, Cooking Cat gave in, but only agreed to help if Hat Kid had something to talk to her with. She gave Hat Kid a metal brick thing, which confused her, although Hat Kid didn't mind as long as she got to snoop around the studio.

Of course, if spy movies taught her anything about being sneaky, it was that vents were always a good place to start. Hat Kid had Cooking Cat help her into the closest vent. There was a bit of a commotion, but the secretary bird didn't seem to notice, and soon, Hat Kid was inside and well on her way through Dead Bird Studio.


	5. Dead Bird Studio: Part II

Hey! I finally managed to update on Saturday!

Dead Bird Studio Part II. I said in the beginning that I wanted to have Mustache Girl be more involved in the story. Well, here's the bit where she takes up a role in Chapter 2.

I know this is short, but I'm trying to be more productive, so I want to get more things out there. I don't own anything. Now just try to sit back and enjoy the show!

* * *

-Beep-

"This is Cooking Cat. How can I help you?"

"Hiya"

"Kid! How have you been?"

"¯\\_(ツ)_/¯"

"Nevermind that, do you need help with anything?"

Hat Kid put down the phone. She glanced over to the weird green thing towering over her, before she turned back to the phone and asked what the green thing from the desert was called.

"I'm pretty sure a plant is just a plant, dear."

Hat Kid gave a pout, although she was pretty sure Cooking Cat wouldn't hear her on the other end. She clarified that she wanted to know what was the plant that looked like a person from really far away.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow."

Hat Kid added that it was the green stick with arms.

"Oh! You mean a cactus."

Cactus. So that was what it was called.

Hat Kid gave her a quick "Thank you!" before hanging up.

-Beep-

Dead Bird Studio was very long. It had long halls, long rides, long wait times. Not to mention the walls were all very black. The recording places looked bright and colorful, but Hat Kid couldn't go there for obvious reasons.

The transport-y thingy was fun to ride, though. Something about seeing everything rushing past really fast excited Hat Kid. She would have liked to stay on there for a long time, just flicking the lever back and forth, feeling the wind brush past her face as she zipped from one place to the next; of course, she had to find the time pieces, so she didn't have time to do that.

Hat Kid was sneaking past a few very tall boxes when she heard the familiar voice of Mustache Girl coming from the other side.

The space-faring explorer in her told her to ignore it. She needed to find the time piece as quickly as possible, after all. The child in her, on the other hand, was extremely curious.

She ended up listening in on the conversation.

"Listen, I know what I'm doing," Mustache Girl said.

A faint voice replied to her. She was talking to someone over the phone, that much Hat Kid figure out.

"I know, but I promise: this year is going to be different."

There was a muffled reply.

"Yeah, yeah. I know you haven't been doing too well; kinda down in the dumps, right? Well, I can help with that. I'll just have to add a little bit of drama and a little bit of action."

The person on the other end of the line spoke again, and, much to her frustration, Hat Kid still couldn't figure out what they were saying. She tried to get a tiny bit closer, but accidentally moved one of the boxes she was hiding behind. The moment she realized that, she scrambled back, careful not to be spotted.

The talking stopped for a second, and Hat Kid felt a bit nervous; maybe Mustache Girl had noticed she was there. Then, it started up again, like nothing had happened.

"You're going to show him who's boss, and you'll finally get the recognition you deserve! All I need in return is for you to give me any of those hourglass things you find lying around."


	6. Tomorrow is a New Day

Yeah, I'm abandoning ship. I had an idea of where I was gonna go with this, but as I went along, I kind of realized that it just wasn't going to work.

That's not to say I'm done, though; there are a few ideas that I've really grown attached to, and I plan on making separate stories for them, (Alpine Skylines, for example) just not with this one story.

But before I go, have this bit of Hat Kid playing with a puppy.

* * *

There was a fluffy puppy on top of the fountain.

Just...

Huh?

How an impossibly adorable, shivering bundle of fluff gotten itself stuck on top of a very tall place was completely beyond Hat Kid. Standing so very high up couldn't be very comfortable, with all the snow lying around. All the shaking the puppy was doing and the big, pleading eyes it was giving her certainly didn't help ease her conscious.

"What's this?" DJ Grooves exclaimed as he slid to a stop beside the small girl in a dramatic manner, just like everything else he did. "It seems our little diva has found a canine in distress! Whatever will our heroine do?" His huge, bushy eyebrows swirled as he turned to face Hat Kid, his trademark grin spread all over his beak, just egging her on.

The snow crunched loudly as Hat Kid slowly stepped back. The tiny puffy ball of fluffy grew smaller by the second as she kept stepping away from the fountain. There was a small crowd of penguins gathered around to see everything unfold with curious eyes hidden behind a pair of shades. Confused muttering passed between several penguins; concerned whispers slipped through the icy air as they waited tensely for Hat Kid to move.

Then, in a puff of smoke, her top hat disappeared, replaced by a red running cap on top of her head. She broke into a sprint, her boots kicked up clouds of snow as she ran. Her bright yellow cape fluttered in the cold wind as her hair streamed behind her in a chocolate river, and the penguins broke out into loud cheers.

Her feet left the ground, and she soared into the star-studded sky plastered over the ceiling. The colorful buildings and their snow-coated tops became a blur as she arced over the frosty road, landing gracefully on the lowest edge of the fountain. (Well, almost gracefully-she nearly fell off the moment she landed, and she had to grab the column behind her so she wouldn't lose her balance. If she had fallen off, that certainly would've hurt)

As soon as she was sure her feet were steady, Hat Kid took a deep breath, and jumped again, pushing off bits of rock onto the ground below. With ease, she scaled the fountain like a cat. The wind brushed against her plump face, rubbing her cheeks, and she absolutely loved every second of it. Being out and about, being so free; it just made her happy.

When she reached the top, the puppy barked excitedly, catching her infectious smile like a cold. It was so happy, and she was so happy, so she picked it up and spun it around, giggling like she didn't have any sort of urgent mission, like she could spend the entire day just spinning puppies around.

She gently slid back to the ground with a barking bundle of joy in her arms, and was met with clapping flippers and smiling beaks. Her happiness had spread to the penguins on the ground as quickly as it had to the puppy, and everyone cheered for the brave little girl who had brought the puppy to safety.

DJ Grooves, always quick to capitalize on a moment, turned to the camera with a cheerful smile. "Would you look at that! Our little star has brought the puppy back on solid ground, safe and sound! Be sure to stay tuned to see what more this shining star has to offer!" He turned back to Hat Kid, ready to call her over to continue their tour, but found her chasing the puppy deep into the snowbank. Despite the frozen atmosphere, he found his heart melting, and let her enjoy herself just a little longer.


End file.
